Waller study calls for downtown revitalization

Community supports study

Vilas Bhuchar, Dec 23, 09.

A Livable Centers Study completed for the City of Waller focuses on revitalizing the city’s historic downtown and integrating existing street networks and development with potential future commuter rail along Highway 290, according to a presentation given by the Houston-Galveston Area Council’s Jeff Taebel at last Friday’s Transportation Policy Council meeting.

According to Taebel, these actions will help the city, which is 40 miles northwest of Houston, reach the goal laid out in H-GAC’s Livable Centers program, which according to an informational document provided by TPC is:

...to help create walkable, mixed-use places that provide multi-modal transportation options, improve environmental quality, and promote economic development.

His presentation noted that a variety of improvements are proposed for the Main Street Downtown District, including:

...construction of sidewalks, landscaping, angled parking and curb extensions at intersections. The reconfiguration of the Main / Key / BR290 intersection would allow for the recreation of a new civic plaza, provide public space, a new municipal building, and infill housing.

Taebal also noted that the study involved “broad community outreach” and that there is both community and elected leader support for the study. He added that the next stage of the process is implementation, and that working with the mayor and the Economic Development Corporation of the city, they will need to develop a fiscal analysis that “outlines the proposed funding sources, cost estimates, and priority level” of projects.

Finally, the Waller Mayor Paul Wood, speaking after Taebel, added that the city will need TPC’s support for implementation to occur.